You said:
> why step backwards, there is no more support for v1.9.x not even security updates. (I think Dan Marsden's support ended December, time to move on.)

How do you say: The dead live longer?
"Bug fixes for serious security issues in 1.9.x by Moodle HQ ended June 2012 (4.5 years).
Bug fixes for serious security issues in 1.9.x by Catalyst IT will continue until Dec 2013 (6 years)."http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Releases.

My apologies, it was my understanding that Dan, via Catalyst, could only continue to support to the end of 2012, but if they can keep going to the end of 2013, then Catalyst is certainly being more generous than I would have expected.

However, the basic point is the same, I cannot see any valid reason to start, or continue, with a v1.9.19++++++ if a v2.x is available. There is also another issue to be considered, I am not sure what direction the Roadmap will take, nor can any of us be certain that the mechanisms for upgrading a v1.9.19++++++ to a, say, a v2.7.2 in May of 2014, will continue to provide that support. They should, but we cannot be certain. There may, of necessity, be an upgrade path where an interim version needs to be maintained. We should be encouraging people to upgrade to v2, and not, I suggest, waste their time on a v1.9.x. There is nothing in v1.9.x core that is not replicated or "improved" in v2. There is a great many features in v2 core that can be well utilised that cannot be a part of v1.9.x. Now there are a number of exciting new plugins for v2 that have not been designed or written for v1.9.x.

Don't get me wrong, I loved my v1.9s, and now the initial angst has passed about v2, can appreciate some of the strengths of the new versions. Still think it is ugly and needs a redesign, which I understand is beginning to happen, and think it needs to be more flexible when integrating other PHP apps, and now learning that there is an enterprise need for student management and enterprise facilities functionality, which could be developed as a new product that can be integrated, or plugged in easily, so to speak. But these are separate issues.

The basic point is still the same, v1.9.19+++++ will no longer be a contemporary tool.